Canada oil bets on tech, scale in face of foreign majors’ exodus

As global oil majors pull out of Canada’s oil sands, domestic companies are buying up assets and betting technology and economies of scale will enable them to turn a profit despite low crude prices. Global energy majors have sold off more than $22.5 billion worth of Canadian oil sands assets so far this year, concerned about depressed oil prices, high production costs and carbon emissions and limited pipeline access to market. Three of Canada’s biggest oil and gas companies reported first-quarter earnings and held annual general meetings this week, in which they talked up opportunities in the region despite global firms pulling back. “We are transforming our company at a pivotal time in the industry and at the beginning of a technological renaissance,” Cenovus Energy Inc Chief Executive […]